The Point of the Lance
by LadyEnterprise1701
Summary: While Lieutenant Uhura is left in temporary command of the Enteprirse, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to an ice-planet to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a Federation starship. Little do they know that the explanation involves a fearsome young queen and her quest for revenge. My entry for the 2016 Strange New Worlds contest.
_A/N: This was my entry for the Strange New Worlds Contest. I figured the contest would be a win-win situation for me either way: either my name would be on the list of winners, or I'd have another submission for my Fanfiction portfolio. So my response when I got the announcement about the contest was "YAY!" even if my name wasn't on it_ ;-)

 _The usual disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, I just play with the characters._

* * *

"Captain's Log, Stardate 3421.5…Lieutenant Uhura reporting."

Uhura stopped, a little startled by the words coming out of her mouth. This was, after all, the first time Captain Kirk had ever entrusted her with the conn. Yesterday's ion storm had left the ship's power systems unstable, meaning Mr. Scott couldn't tear his attention away from the Engineering section. Captain Kirk could've easily left Sulu in command while he beamed down to the planet, but he hadn't.

He chose Uhura.

And now she felt as if all eyes and ears were trained on her. Which, of course, was silly, since

Chekov and Sulu both had their backs to her, the yeomen on duty chatted in subdued whispers behind her, and Lieutenant Palmer handled communications with quiet aplomb.

 _No one's paying attention to you, you goose. Be confident. Just remember what Captain Kirk said to you before he left._

 _"Don't worry, Uhura…I know I'm leaving my ship in capable hands."_

She drew a breath, crossed her ankles, and sat up straighter in the captain's seat. She kept her finger firm upon the button that ran the log recording and cleared her throat.

"In accordance with orders to investigate the recent disappearance of the _USS Wellington,_ the _Enterprise_ headed straight for Korinos, the _Wellington_ 's last known stop. We reached the planet yesterday and received permission to send a few men down—along with a strange request to keep in between the planet and its moon, Trilia. Apparently the rebellion on the moon colony has escalated since the _Wellington_ 's captain made First Contact, and the Korinosians think our presence will prevent any attacks while the captain and his landing party are on the planet."

Chekov turned slightly in his chair and Uhura caught the childlike anxiety in his young face. Captain Kirk promoted him to bridge crew only a few weeks ago; yesterday's storm marked the first time the Russian ever faced danger from a front-row seat. His current nervousness was perfectly reasonable. Uhura offered him a reassuring smile and finished the entry in a rush.

"I'm under strict orders from the captain to keep the _Enterprise_ in place, stay in close contact, and be ready to beam them up at the first sign of trouble. And I have _every_ intention of obeying those orders to the best of my ability."

 _Click_ , and the recording ended. Sulu glanced over his shoulder at Uhura. She drew in a breath and released it slowly.

"Congratulations," Sulu said with an encouraging grin. "You just made your very first captain's log."

Uhura grimaced. "I'd feel a whole lot better if it were Captain Kirk here and not me. I don't think I'm cut out for command, Sulu."

He shrugged. "You've got a good head on your shoulders—that's all you need. What do you

say, Chekov? How do you like having the lieutenant in charge?"

Chekov adjusted his navigational controls. "I am vwery glad to have her as my commander. She doesn't make me…nervous. Not like…"

His voice trailed off and he turned as red as Uhura's uniform. She raised her eyebrows, surprised.

"Captain Kirk makes you nervous?"

"No, no," Chekov said quickly. "But Mr. Spock does."

Sulu snorted. Uhura pressed her lips together.

"But anyway—I don't like this…situation!" Chekov added, throwing his palm at the viewing screen and the snow-covered planet that occupied nearly half of it. "The Korinosians and the Trilians are at vwar with less than a couple of days between them—and vwee are stuck right in the middle! Vwee could be blasted to bits before the captain ever knew what happened!"

Uhura shuddered. "Well, Captain Morrison did say in his last report to Starfleet that neither the Korinosians nor the Trilians have anything close to the power of a starship—so even if we _were_ attacked, I don't think we'd have much to worry about."

"My thoughts exactly," Sulu said, casting a look of teasing disapproval in Chekov's direction. "You heard Captain Uhura, Pav. Don't be such a wet blanket."

Chekov offered a sheepish shrug—but Uhura couldn't echo her own words with so much as a smile. Something about this situation _was_ unsettling…and for some reason she couldn't put her finger on, it had nothing to do with the possibility of the _Enterprise_ getting caught in the crossfire.

* * *

The glimmer of dematerializing atoms filled Jim Kirk's vision within seconds of stepping onto the humming transporter. He'd done this a thousand times before, so unlike his Chief Medical Officer—who hated the machine with a vengeance—the quivering anxiety in his gut had little to do with the ever-present possibility of a malfunction.

 _No, it's the idea of a missing starship that sets my teeth on edge. A Federation vessel doesn't just drop out of space without a good explanation…and I intend to get those answers._

The next thing he knew, glaring sun and an icy wind forced his eyes half-shut; he brought his hands to his face, wishing he'd brought along a visor. Over the wind, an unmistakable Southern growl reminded him he was nowhere close to being alone.

"Darn machine gives me a case of the nerves every time!"

Kirk grinned, trying not to laugh at the sight of a heavily bundled Leonard McCoy hugging himself against the chill. "Never going to get used to it, are you, Bones?"

McCoy shot him a withering glare; Kirk quickly assumed an innocent expression and looked around. They'd landed at the bottom of a gentle incline, just as they intended; Spock and the two security officers, Olhouser and Carter, stood to his right, McCoy on his left. Grey mountains loomed a couple of miles in front of them on the other side of the slope, but on every other side lay nothing but wide-open, snowy land. Only the wind, the muffled hum of a nearby but unseen city, and the soft whir of Spock's tricorder disturbed the frigid silence.

"We are one-point-three kilometers from the edge of the Korinosian Settlement, Captain. By cresting this incline—" Spock thrust a long arm in its direction "—we should reach the city in twenty minutes."

"Why couldn't we have just beamed into the Settlement anyway, sir?" Ensign Olhouser asked. "Seems like it'd be more convenient than walking up this slope."

Spock nodded. "It would indeed, Ensign, but it could also be potentially disastrous. The Korinosians are an advancing culture, but they distrust transporter technology almost as much as Dr. McCoy does. They apparently prefer that we enter their city in a way that allows them some perceived control over the situation."

"And I guess we've got to humor them," McCoy muttered.

Kirk took several long, brisk strides ahead of his companions. "In the interests of diplomacy, yes. Besides, the climb will do you some good, Bones. You're always telling me how we could all use some good old-fashioned exercise."

The doctor scowled. "I'm a doctor, not a mountain goat. And as much as I hate that machine, I don't think it's reasonable to ask us to freeze to death just so we can indulge their ego. Even you have to admit that's _illogical_ , Spock!"

"I agree," Spock replied, trudging after Kirk without ever glancing up from his tricorder. "But then, deliberately contrary behavior is a common failing I've found among most humanoids."

"Oh really? And here I thought it was a _purely_ Vulcan trait."

Kirk smothered a laugh—but before Spock could make one of his own scathing retorts, the tricorder chimed. The Vulcan stopped, studied the tiny screen, then lifted his head.

"Captain, look."

Kirk followed the direction of Spock's discreet nod and drew in a sharp breath at the sight of a white-clad man at the top of the slope, leaning on a long black lance. Even from this distance Kirk could tell his skin was the same color as his close-fitting garments and the fur cloak streaming behind him. It was as if he were made of marble.

And he must've only just arrived at his post, because he certainly hadn't been there when they first beamed down.

"Good Lord," McCoy whispered. "He's _huge_."

At the doctor's comment Kirk remembered his two ensigns. He glanced over his shoulder just as Carter reached for his phaser. Kirk threw out a warning palm.

"But Captain—!"

"This is a peaceful mission, Carter," Kirk said sternly. "You'll do well to remember it."

The scrawny nineteen-year-old gulped, but withdrew his hand. Satisfied, Kirk stepped forward alone. The Korinosian didn't move a muscle; only the wind stirred his hair and billowed in his cloak. Kirk raised his empty hands.

"I'm Captain James T. Kirk of the Federation starship _Enterprise_ ," he shouted. "We received permission from your government to come down to your planet and meet with your—"

"There are only the five of you?"

The voice boomed down from the imposing figure, so strong and clear that it startled Kirk. He masked his surprise and strode forward—but with his hands still in the air.

"Yes…not including, of course, the rest of the crew aboard my ship." He kept walking, eyes locked on the Korinosian. "We mean your planet no harm. We're simply looking for a missing friend and hoped your people could give us some clues as to his whereabouts."

The Korinosian said nothing. Kirk kept silent, letting the man mull over the explanation, hoping—desperately—that it would be enough for the moment…that he would let them enter the Settlement…that humoring these people, as Bones put it, would pay off.

Obviously, the captain's stubborn silence convinced the sentry that Kirk had no intentions of either backing down or offering further information. The Korinosian jerked his head over his shoulder in a clear motion for them to come closer. Kirk sprang forward, guessing by the eager shuffling behind him that his friends were at his heels.

* * *

Captain Caleb Morrison, who made First Contact with Korinos five months ago, reported back to Starfleet that the natives were an industrious people. Their culture had already produced sophisticated computers and spacecraft—but without warp drive, they couldn't travel much further than to their own moon, Trilia, and a few neighboring planets. The capital city sprawled at the foot of a mountain range, with a flourishing cavorite mine that sustained the planet's economy.

Morrison and his crew had been well-received; the elderly king gave them every opportunity to study his planet and befriend his people. In spite of the occasional skirmish between the Korinosians and the aggrieved Trilian colonists—who claimed the government of their home planet treated them like second-class citizens—the _Wellington_ enjoyed a fairly uneventful mission.

And then, four months after discovering Korinos, she just disappeared. No distress signals, no communication with Starfleet…nothing. And since the _Enterprise_ was the only starship in this part of the quadrant, Starfleet assigned the investigation to her captain.

Kirk had spent the last month familiarizing himself with the reports Starfleet channeled back to him from Morrison, but nothing could've prepared him for the impressive reality once they crested the top of the incline. The landing party drew to an awed stop at the sight of hundreds of igloo-like buildings rising out of the snow. Wide streets hummed with vehicles and civilians going about their daily business. A hovertrain disgorged men in protective blue jumpsuits at the cavorite mine's entrance, while other workers loaded crates full of the coal-like element into the cars.

"Well," McCoy said, following the sentry down the slope, "this is what I'd call 'charming.'

No wonder Morrison sounded so excited in those reports."

"I do not know that 'charming' is a word I would use," Spock said, peering through a magnifying viewer he retrieved from the kit slung over his shoulder. "Look at the men coming out of that mine, Captain."

He handed the magnifier to Kirk, who stopped to get a good look. The captain lowered it after only a few seconds, startled. The sentry paused several yards ahead.

"Are you coming, Federation-folk?"

"On our way!" Kirk called back. He turned to Spock. "They look half-dead."

"What's going on?" McCoy hissed.

Kirk handed him the magnifier. The doctor's eyebrows shot up almost immediately. The men emerging from the mine walked with slumped shoulders, their ivory faces haggard and grimy. Those stepping out of the hovertrain to join their own shift headed for the cave entrance with grim weariness. Not one of them looked half as strong as the guards standing watch at the cave's entrance and on the train.

"Doctor, I want you to scan these people as discreetly as you can," Kirk whispered, resuming his trek across the snow. "I want a solid analysis of their physical and mental condition."

McCoy handed the viewer back to Spock with a grim nod. "Got it."

At the bottom of the slope the sentry motioned for them to enter a waiting, open vehicle. By the time they hovered through the first street, civilians had stopped to watch with varying degrees of suspicion. Women in white dresses and veils drew their children closer with anxious whispers; men getting into a second hovertrain bound for the mine stared in vague hostility.

"Whatever happened to the welcoming community Morrison described in his reports?" Bones grumbled, rubbing his gloved hands together.

Spock raised his eyebrows, the Vulcan equivalent of a shrug. "Perhaps his exuberance over such a discovery clouded his judgment?"

"Maybe," Kirk murmured—then raised his own eyebrows in surprise and leaned closer to his first officer. "The children are watching you, Spock. Try not to look so severe."

It was true: as much as their mothers tried to shield them, the little Korinosians stared, especially at Spock. Soon, however, he wasn't the sole object of their curiosity. Even the captain found himself smiling at several children as they waved shyly at him. McCoy's scanner whirred behind him; Jim hoped the suspicious adults didn't notice the device.

The sentry maintained a stony silence until the vehicle reached the foot of the mountain. Kirk sat up as they approached a stone mansion veiled in the mountain's shadow only a couple hundred yards from the entrance of the mine. The sentry drew the hovercraft to a stop; at his brusque command, guards on either side of the mansion's doors pulled them open.

Vibrant tapestries lined the walls of the high-ceilinged hall; a fire danced in a open hearth in the center of the room, providing light and warmth along with the lamps fixed to the walls. If it weren't for the digital screen stretching across one wall, showing a one-dimensional representation of the planet, its moon, and the various space vessels between the two—including the _Enterprise_ —Kirk would've assumed he'd stepped back in time to a medieval palace on Earth.

An albino female in an ice-blue gown stood in front of the screen, her back to the doors, her slender arms folded over her chest. The sentry stopped the landing party a yard from where she stood and still she never turned.

"Visitors from the Federation, Your Supremacy," the sentry intoned.

 _Your Supremacy?_ Kirk made a sharp motion with his hand, silencing any incoming exclamations from Bones or the security guards. The young woman turned, fastening pale-violet eyes on her visitors; her delicate features wrinkled with thinly-veiled animosity as she studied Kirk from head to toe.

"You come from Earth?" she asked in a clipped accent.

Kirk nodded. "Yes, my lady. I'm Captain—"

"That's 'Your Supremacy' to you, _Human_."

She spat out the word as if it tasted foul. The ensigns fidgeted; McCoy drummed his fingers on his medical kit. Only Spock remained unruffled. Kirk drew himself up to his full height and looked Korinos' new sovereign in the eye.

"I'll get right to the point, then, _Your_ _Supremacy_. We're not here to interfere with your planet or the conflict between you and the Trilian rebels. We only want some information about our friend, Captain Caleb Morrison…the Federation citizen who recently visited your planet."

The queen narrowed her eyes. "The captain was your friend?"

"Yes…a friend and a comrade. Our superiors have lost contact with him—but they know his ship never left Korinosian space. They hoped you might be able to tell me about his last days here, or where he was headed when he left." Kirk hesitated, then added in a more conciliatory tone, "It would help me determine where and how to continue our search for him."

The queen said nothing for a moment—although he did note the way her eyes flickered in the sentry's direction. Finally, however, she sighed; she unfolded her arms, clasped her hands instead, and took a few slow steps toward him, eyes downcast.

"I fear I am the bearer of grim tidings, then, Captain…?"

"Kirk."

"Captain Kirk." She sounded the name out slowly, as if it were hard to pronounce. "I am sorry. Your friend, Captain Morrison, is dead."

" _Dead?_ " McCoy cried. "How do you know?"

Kirk shot him a warning look—but the queen only shook her head. "I assure you, we could not have missed it. Early one evening we saw his vessel plummeting through the sky over our city…and the next thing we knew, the whole world trembled with the force of the impact. Some even believed the world was ending. My men flew over the mountain range and saw what was left of it in the Desert—"

"The Desert?" Spock interrupted.

She studied him for a long time before replying, with far more interest and respect than she'd offered Kirk. "It is a vast, empty area on the other side of the mountain range."

"See if you can get a bearing on the crash site, Spock," Kirk murmured.

"That is unnecessary, Captain," she said before Spock could touch his tricorder. "Corvin will take you to the location—but you will have to take one of our more powerful hovercraft to get over the range. Unless, of course," she added with a cool upward tilt of her head, "you wish to climb through the mountains yourselves."

Not caring to indulge her contempt, Kirk offered only a stiff bow in thanks. The sentry—Corvin—motioned toward the now-closed doors. They were almost on the threshhold when Spock suddenly turned, slanted eyebrows drawn tighter than usual.

"If I may be so bold, Your Supremacy, Captain Morrison reported that a king ruled your planet," he said. "I congratulate you on your ascension to power."

Kirk watched as a proud look slipped into the queen's face and her milk-white skin took on a slight flush. Spock had obviously flattered some point of honor.

"My grandfather ruled our planet well. I, Queen Thessa, intend to follow in his footsteps…and accomplish more besides." She hesitated, then added in a quieter, almost gentler voice, "Make no mistake, sir. I, too, grieve your friend's loss. He could've aided our planet greatly."

Spock inclined his head in a courteous gesture—but when he turned his back to her he looked more troubled than Kirk had seen him look in a while. He had a feeling the Vulcan would be busy for the rest of the day trying to put together these mystifying puzzle pieces.

* * *

"Kirk to _Enterprise…_ Kirk to—oww!"

Kirk clenched the arm of his seat as the cavorite-burning hovercraft made its rough landing on the other side of the mountain range. The shuddering subsided just as his communicator crackled.

"Uhura here," a soft, anxious voice called back. "Are you all right, sir?"

"A little rattled, but no worse for the wear. Anything to report up there?"

"Only that we were hailed by the governor of the Trilian colony. I assured him we're only looking for a friend of ours on Korinos. He seemed satisfied with that explanation."

"Good. We think we may have a clue ourselves…maybe even the final piece of the puzzle."

"Good news, sir?"

Kirk sighed. "No, not very good. I'll let you know more once we investigate. How are the warp engines?"

An exasperated note entered Uhura's voice. "Much better—but Scotty won't let me hand over command to him!"

Kirk smiled; Spock, sitting aross from him, raised an eyebrow.

"That's because he _can't_ ," Kirk said gently. "Command protocol, Lieutenant. Only Mr. Spock or I can relieve you of the conn."

"I know that, sir. But that doesn't make me anymore comfortable in this situation."

Corvin opened the hovercraft's door with a scrape of metal. Kirk winced; the bitter air rushing into the plane made even a native Iowan uncomfortable. "I know you can manage the _Enterprise_ without catastrophe until I get back, Uhura. I'll check back in a couple of hours. Kirk out."

He snapped the communicator shut and followed his men outside. The very idea of something as large as a starship crashing on a planet made his skin crawl—but as his eyes adjusted again to the sunlight and the snow, dread turned to outright horror…and then comprehension.

The _Wellington_ hadn't crashed, per se. It was doomed long before it ever hit the planet. Plenty of snow had fallen since the incident, but no one could've missed the scorched chunks of a starship littering the area. Part of a warp nacelle, huge twisted fragments of the saucer, and unrecognizable pieces of charred, jagged metal peeked out of the smothering white blanket.

"Can you pick up any remains, Bones?" Kirk whispered.

McCoy shook his head, slipping his scanner back into his kit. "Only traces, all underneath the snow. It'd be hard to identify anything at this stage."

"Thank God none of this hit the city," Ensign Carter said. "That warp nacelle alone could've flattened one of those igloos, easily."

"You are satisfied, Kirk?" Corvin called to them from the hovercraft's ramp.

Kirk turned. "Yes, very. We'll conduct a search for our friends' remains—"

McCoy jerked his head up. "But Jim, I just told you—"

"Doctor," Spock said. McCoy clamped his mouth shut. Kirk gave Spock a grateful look and cupped a hand around his mouth again.

"If you don't mind, we'll pay our respects to our dead before we head back to your city. _Privately_."

Corvin hesitated, but retreated into the vehicle with a skeptical nod. As soon as he was gone, Kirk turned to the ensigns.

"Keep close to that plane, but be discreet about it. Olhouser, you call Mr. Scott…let him know we've found what's left of the _Wellington_."

"Aye, sir," Olhouser said, motioning for Carter to follow. As soon as they were out of earshot, Kirk whirled on his heel.

"Analysis, Spock?"

The Vulcan didn't hesitate. "The nature of the debris suggests an explosion above orbit. If the _Wellington_ had crashed, as Queen Thessa suggested, there would've been a crater we could detect even under this snow. My scan also shows evidence of a fire and irreversible orbit decay."

Kirk nodded, his stomach sinking at the ghastly scenario playing out in his head. "Bones, what did you learn from _your_ scans in the city?"

McCoy sighed. "The children are in pretty good health—but the women have some stress-related physical problems. And _you_ saw those men. I didn't need the scanner to tell me they're overworked."

Kirk scowled, folding his arms tight over his chest. "It doesn't add up. The _Wellington_ 's medical officer didn't report any stress disorders—or slavery conditions, for that matter."

"No, she didn't." McCoy hesitated, then added, "The scanner did pick up something else, Jim. _Energy readings_ ,from the adults. Not like body heat, but electrical pulses. The kind of thing you'd get from computers."

Spock frowned. "Could they be androids?"

" _No_. Not that I've had much experience with androids, but my scanner would know one when it saw one—or at least pick up on biological perfection. And these people _aren't_ specimens of outstanding health and physique, I can tell you that."

"And what about Thessa? Excuse me—' _Her Supremacy_?' "

McCoy snorted. "Well, _I_ think she's very pleased with her new authority. And I hope I wasn't the only one who noticed the way she stared at you, Spock. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was settin' her cap for you."

Spock pulled his tricorder out of his kit. "I was more concerned about her comment regarding

Captain Morrison. She said he could have helped them greatly…"

Kirk nodded. "He could have. He could've helped Korinos join the Federation."

"But why would she have such glowing things to say about _him_ while she treated _you_ like an idiot?" McCoy demanded. "If she's got such a prejudice against humans, why would Morrison be an exception?"

Before anyone could answer, Spock jerked his head up. "Captain. Energy readings, two yards away from you on your three o'clock."

Kirk whirled. "Leftover radiation from the warp nacelle?"

Spock shook his head. "It is a faint _electrical_ pulse."

Startled, the three of them moved to the captain's three o'clock; Kirk snatched up a long piece of jagged metal, prodding the snow with it while the tricorder's beeping grew more insistent. The noise turned shrill and the metal struck something hard beneath the snow at the same time. Kirk dropped to his knees and began digging with his hands. McCoy's mention of energy readings came back to him; he felt sick, half-afraid he'd find a frozen Korinosian.

"Captain, allow me." Spock closed the tricorder and helped him drag a heavy, spherical object —definitely not a body—from its hiding place. Relief flooded Kirk at the sight of a chipping Starfleet logo and a hatch at the top. He clenched and twisted the hatch handle. The capsule depressurized with a hiss and popped open.

"A log buoy," McCoy muttered in surprise. "Well, I'll be darned…"

Kirk pulled out the tape; Spock handed him the tricorder. Within seconds of the tape clicking into the device's waiting slot, a pained, breathless voice crackled over the static.

"This is Captain Caleb Morrison of the…the…" An agonized groan sent a shiver down Kirk's spine. "I—I can't even remember…it's eating at me…oh God it hurts—"

Spock raised an eyebrow. The wind picked up, whistling over the wreckage; Jim held the device closer to his ear before the sound could drown out the recording.

"They want my ship," the voice went on, ragged with pain. "They jammed communications…did something to…to our minds. The more I…fight it…the more it _hurts_ …"

"Mind control," Spock said quietly. Kirk swallowed hard and nodded.

"Self-destruct…our only choice. It's that or… _no_ , we _can't_ let them have it…God knows what she'd do…if…if anyone finds this…tell Starfleet we didn't go down without a fi—"

The recording disintegrated into heavy static. Spock took the tricorder back and adjusted the knobs, but to no avail.

"It must have been damaged," he said, vaguely apologetic.

"Don't worry about it, Spock…I think we heard enough." Kirk shot to his feet. "Self-destruction. Morrison and his crew blew up their own ship!"

"To keep it out of 'her' hands," McCoy said, eyes widening. "Jim, you don't think—"

"Yes, I do." Kirk looked hard at his first officer. "Vulcans are telepathic. Could you sense whether or not Queen Thessa has any such capabilities?"

Spock considered for a moment. "I did not detect any, Captain. Yet if anyone would want or need a starship, it would be her. She did suggest, after all, that she intended to advance her culture beyond what her predecessor accomplished."

"A Federation starship would be a great prize for any cul—"

Kirk froze, jerking his head up. Spock raised both eyebrows as their thoughts raced along the same wavelength without either of them saying a word.

"The _Enterprise…_ " Kirk whispered.

"Jim, she's a sittin' duck!" McCoy hissed.

"Precisely, Doctor," Spock said, his voice unusually sharp. "If our suspicions are correct, then Her Supremacy will make some attempt to seize her. Shall I order Uhura to beam us aboard?"

"So soon? We had hoped to entertain you a little longer than that."

The officers whirled, reaching for the phasers in their jumpsuit belts. Queen Thessa, gripping a long black lance in one hand, strode out of the plane they'd arrived in. Six Korinosian guards with lances of their own swarmed around her; Corvin and another guard flung the limp bodies of the young ensigns away from them. A cool, satisfied smile crept over Thessa's ivory face.

"I can tell by your faces that you know at least part of the truth," she said. "I'd hoped there'd be nothing here to betray us, but alas…one can't always keep secrets as well as one would like."

"And you'll never seize another starship without a fight on your hands," Kirk snapped. "You'd better tell us what this is all about before you try your hand at it again—and fail."

She raised an eyebrow as she came to a halt, her men closing around the officers. "And why am I obligated to answer any of _your_ questions? You've learned enough, I think, for one day. Besides…only one of you truly needs to know everything…"

Before Kirk knew what was happening, she gripped her lance with both hands and tilted it forward—not at him, as he expected, but at Spock. The Vulcan lurched backward too late, genuine alarm in his dark eyes as the weapon's sharp point touched his forehead.

The contact lasted no longer than a second or two. Long enough for a blue spark to flash out of the lance, long enough for him to go rigid, long enough for even the slightest traces of emotion and self-awareness to drain from his face.

And plenty long enough for Kirk to lunge forward to grab the lance.

The next thing he knew, two of the guards threw him backward into the snow and pinned him down. The impact knocked the wind out of his lungs; he gasped, sucking in enough air to wrest one arm free and smash his fist into the face of the guard on his left. McCoy fired his phaser; a Korinosian screamed in pain. Kirk got to his feet again, clamping both hands on the lance just as Thessa turned away from the rigid, unseeing Spock.

Surprise and then anger blazed in her violet eyes. She wrenched her weapon free with a cry and swung at Kirk's head.

He heard a sickening crack, and then everything went dark.

* * *

 _"They jammed communications…did something to our minds. Self-destruct…our only choice…"_

 _"Jim, she's a sittin' duck!"_

 _"You_ will _submit…you_ will _give in to me…you_ will _…you_ will _…"_

For the first time since regaining consciousness, Spock opened his eyes—but only so that they were two dark slits in his angular face. He dared not open them further and break his concentration…dared not leave his mental barriers undefended…too risky…not with this assault…

The limited eyesight, however, still allowed him to assess his surroundings. A muted lamp on the wall and the flickering blue and green of a computer console in standby provided the only light in this large, windowless room. His Vulcan physiology revolted against the bitter cold. Yet in spite of the fact that he and Captain Kirk, motionless on the floor a few feet away, were the only ones in the room, the Korinosian queen's voice sounded as near as if she sat beside him.

 _"You will do as I say unless you want to feel the pain. You will submit. You will obey. You will._

 _You will."_

 _I…will…not…_

 _"You will!"_

A sharp pain coursed through his forehead where the lance touched him. Spock winced, then sat up straight like he had a steel rod in his back.

 _I am a Vulcan. Pain is a thing of the mind. The mind…can be…controlled…_

 _Control. She is attempting to control me._

 _"They jammed communications…did something to our minds…"_

He didn't realize his eyes had closed again until he heard a faint groan; he opened them just as the captain lifted his head off the floor and let it fall heavily again. Blood smeared one side of Kirk's face, the wound hidden beneath his hair. Spock relaxed a little, attempting to conceal any stress or pain from his expression.

"Jim? Are you all right?"

The captain opened his eyes; to Spock's eternal bewilderment, he actually tried to smile.

"Spock…I thought you were dead."

"Not quite, Captain. I repeat: are you all right?"

Kirk brought a hand to his forehead and flinched. "I feel like…like a photon torpedo just went off in my head."

 _Illogical, since such a thing would kill you instantly_. But Spock kept his mouth shut and simply watched through half-lidded eyes as Jim slowly raised himself up on his hands and knees. The captain seemed to be fighting disorientation… _a mild concussion, likely, compounded with_ _loss of blood…most inconvenient in Dr. McCoy's absence…_

"Stone walls. We must be back in the palace." Kirk staggered to his feet, then stopped, vague interest in his ashen face. "Is that a computer? Have you taken a look at it?"

Spock didn't reply. At the question the hissing voice had intensified; he shut his eyes, trying to block it out.

"Are you all right, Spock? Spock?"

He sensed rather than saw Kirk kneeling in front of him, and braced himself as his shoulders received a quick, vigorous shake. It was jarring, but at least it left the voice a little fainter in his head…not so immediate.

"Talk to me, Spock. Are you hurt?"

He shook his head. "I am…resisting."

"Resisting? Resisting what?"

Spock opened his eyes as the pain subsided. "She wants me…to obey her. She wants me to do something for her and I…I do not yet know what it is…"

Kirk frowned in bewilderment—but before he could speak, the door groaned and scraped open. Spock shut his eyes tight in renewed concentration as Queen Thessa marched inside, followed by two of her guards and a pale but unscathed Dr. McCoy. Kirk got to his feet, placing himself between Spock, the queen, and her lance.

"Your concern for your crew is admirable, Captain," she said. Spock heard the triumphant smile in her voice. "And so you won't think _I_ am entirely heartless, I will allow your physician to make certain the Vulcan is capable of the task I have assigned to him. Step aside."

"Not until McCoy steps up first," Kirk retorted. "Alone."

Silence fell. Spock didn't dare open his eyes. Until the captain delivered that challenge, the hissing was unbearable; now it relented, if only a little. At last he felt Dr. McCoy settle down beside him. The medical scanner hummed over his head.

"You all right, Bones?" the captain asked.

"No worse for the wear. I'll check _you_ in a minute, Jim. You look like death warmed over…"

"That is unnecessary," the queen said coldly. "The Vulcan is the one I need."

" _Why_?" Kirk snapped. "What does he have that you want?"

"His mind and skills. What else? Your Captain Morrison informed my grandfather that Vulcans are the most intelligent beings in your Federation."

 _"And you_ will _submit…"_

Spock heard the captain step away from him. "If you think for one minute that I would ever let you—"

"Jim!" McCoy hissed.

Spock recognized the alarm in the doctor's voice; he opened his eyes in time to see the guards block the captain's path towards the queen. Thessa pointed her lance at Kirk, eyes flashing. The weapon's point turned a foreboding, icy blue, just as it had when she touched Spock with it. But before anyone could make another move, McCoy grabbed Kirk by the elbow, jerked him aside, and started talking. Fast.

"Physically, Your Supremacy, Mr. Spock's in tip-top condition. Blood pressure's almost non-existent, heart rate is at its normal 200-plus beats per minute—"

She nodded. "Good…"

"—and energy readings from his brain match perfectly with previous records."

 _Energy readings._ Spock tightened his hands on his knees, remembering what McCoy said earlier while they explored the debris field. _"Not like body heat, but electrical pulses. The kind of_ _thing you'd get from computers…"_

The captain understood, too, judging from the startled look he gave McCoy. The doctor ignored him. Thessa didn't notice it at all. She drew herself up and turned to the computer console.

"On your feet, Vulcan."

Spock found he couldn't disobey. He unfolded his long limbs and walked slowly towards the

Korinosian queen. Her lips curled in a cool smile as he approached.

"You recognize this kind of machine?"

Spock looked at it for a moment—it was the first time he'd been able to examine it up close—

and nodded. "Yes. It is a mother computer. The center and brain of some kind of network…"

Thessa pressed her lips together and tilted the end of her lance towards him. The intense pain in his head forced his eyes shut; he brought a hand to his temple and set his teeth. A shuffle to his right told him someone had tried to approach him, only to be held back by either a friend or a foe.

"Your ship's computers register on this machine," Thessa said. "Do you know how to connect them to this…network?"

Spock shut his eyes tighter, trying to separate his own thoughts from her incessant commands. It took every mental discipline to resist a physical nod, but Vulcans didn't—couldn't—lie. The word scraped out of him before he could stop it. "Yes…"

"Then disable the mechanism that destroyed Captain Morrison's ship. The one he called upon.

And then, from this same machine…turn your ship's weapons on Trilia."

He pressed both hands to his forehead. "I—I cannot—"

"You _can_!" Thessa screamed. "And you will! My grandfather didn't have the stomach to deal with Trilia as he should have—but _I_ will not let another year pass before its rebels pay the price for thinking they can defy the Supremacy! Do it, or I swear I'll kill them both!"

Spock opened his eyes as she thrust an arm out towards McCoy and the captain. The doctor's eyebrow lifted in alarm—but Jim Kirk merely squared his shoulders and raised his chin.

"Do it, Spock," he said, very quietly. "Disable the self-destruct."

"But Jim—!" McCoy cried.

Kirk glared, and for the second time that day McCoy shut his mouth. Spock stared at the captain for a long moment…and in that odd, indescribable, _illogical_ way they had of reading each other's thoughts, even without the advantage of a mind-meld, everything fell into place.

Like the pieces of a puzzle, or a key fitting into a lock.

Kirk sent him a slow, reassuring nod, and Spock understood. A satisfied smile crept over Thessa's face as he turned to the computer and ran his long fingers over its controls.

* * *

"Lieutenant Uhura? There's something going on with the computer…"

Uhura glanced up from the datapadd propped on her crossed knees. She'd assigned Chekov to

Mr. Spock's science station for the past hour to keep the bored navigator occupied. He'd hardly made a peep in that time, making the current alarm in his voice even more unnerving.

"What's do you mean, something's going on?" she prodded. "A malfunction?"

He offered a bewildered scowl over his shoulder. "It's like…like someone's accessing the computer, Lieutenant. From the _outside_."

Uhura all but tossed the datapadd to the nearest yeoman and rushed to the science station. A glance told her all she needed to know, at least for the moment. Her fingers raced over the console, her usually-soft voice climbing a few pitches.

"Computer! Have you been penetrated from an outside source?"

The computer clicked, assessing its condition. "Affirmative."

"Identify its source and physical location."

"Lieutenant, the code," Chekov whispered. "It is altering the _main_ computer's defense system."

"Yes, I see that, Ensign—I didn't take computer classes at Starfleet Academy for nothing.

Computer, do you have that information for me?"

"Affirmative."

"Read out."

 _Clickety-clack_. "Intruder source—Korinosian—Data—Bank. Intruder location—Korinosian —capital—city."

Uhura rushed back to the captain's chair and hit the intercom. "Bridge to Mr. Scott!"

"Scott here."

"Can you cut power to the computer's defenses, Scotty?"

Scotty paused on the other end. "I dinnae if I can without shuttin' the whole computer system down…"

"See what you can do. Someone's trying to infiltrate the computer, and they're tampering with the self-destruct."

Sulu jerked his gaze up from the helm. "Are they trying to activate it?"

Chekov shook his head with a confused scowl. "I don't know…but it's all authorized access. Whoever is doing this knows the _Enterprise_."

The officers stared at each other for a horrified moment. Uhura turned on the female officer

who had assumed her place at communications.

"Get me the captain, Lieutenant Palmer. He's down there…maybe he can find the intruder himself."

* * *

" _Enterprise_ to Captain Kirk! _Enterprise_ to Captain Kirk, come in please!"

The Korinosian computer room went dead silent; Spock's fingers froze over the console. Kirk smothered any hint of relief or satisfaction from his face as one of the guards flinched under Thessa's alarmed gaze and touched the leather bag at his hip.

"One of their communication devices, Your Supremacy," the Korinosian said, pulling open the bag's upper flap. "Shall I destroy—"

"No," Thessa snapped. "Give it to him."

Kirk ignored McCoy's puzzled gaze and silently accepted the communicator. Before he could open it, Thessa pointed a warning finger at him.

"If you say one word about this, I will finish the excellent work I performed on your head earlier."

Kirk said nothing; he merely gave her a cold stare as he flipped open the communicator. "Kirk to _Enterprise_."

The unfamiliar female voice switched to a softer one he knew very well. "Uhura here. Captain, we're having some technical difficulties…Are you available to talk?"

Kirk met Thessa's gaze steadily. "Code Green, Lieutenant. What's the trouble?"

There was a sudden pause on the other end. Thessa, impatient, turned back to the computer to check Spock's progress. Kirk brought the communicator closer.

"Lieutenant?"

"Yes, sir." Uhura lowered her voice to a near-whisper. "I just thought you should know we're experiencing some malfunctions, but Mr. Scott is trying to shut down part of it and leave the rest online."

Kirk smiled faintly. "Well, then. It sounds to me as if you'll get the situation… _completely_ under control, Lieutenant. Kirk out."

He snapped the communicator shut and handed it back to the guard, who returned it to the leather bag. Jim exchanged a long look with McCoy and then folded his arms over his chest.

 _Don't let me down, Uhura._

* * *

"Code Green," Uhura whispered, her mind racing with every defensive strategy she'd learned in computer science, her fingers flying as she tried to implement them into the ship's system. "Which means the captain is in trouble, and I can't do anything about it—all while someone is messing with the _Enterprise_ 's main computer! Mr. Spock would accuse me of mental laziness if I assumed the timing was coincidental."

"Aye," Scott said. He'd come up to the bridge not long after Uhura first called the Engineering section; now, as he stood beside her, he fixed worried eyes on the viewing screen. "Somethin' fishy is goin' on down there, that's for certain."

Uhura gave him a long, pleading look. "What should I do, Scotty?"

He raised his eyebrows—but before he could say a word Sulu turned from the helm.

"Uhura, the computer is telling me the phaser banks are loaded—and _I_ didn't do it."

She hurried to him, Scott following close behind. "Override."

Sulu played with the controls. "Not responding."

Scott swore under his breath.

"Torpedoes are aiming!" Chekov yelped.

"At what? The planet?"

Sulu peered through his own little viewing screen, then looked up with widened eyes. "No…at Trilia."

Uhura looked at Scott; he met her gaze with a subtle tightening of his jaw. Her mouth felt dry. She sucked in a breath, uncoiled her fingers, and wiped sweaty palms on her skirt.

"Mr. Scott," she said, very softly, "cut power to the entire computer system."

Scott stared at her, aghast. "But that'll cut off _everythin'_ , Lieutenant! Life support, navigation, the engines—"

"And we'll be able to drift in orbit for a short time without getting dangerously close to the atmosphere, won't we? Won't we, Sulu?"

Sulu shrugged, doubtful. "For a couple of hours, yes…"

"And how long can we go without life support, Mr. Scott?"

"We'll run out of air before our orbit decays, lass."

Uhura swallowed. It was the crew— _her_ crew—or Trilia. The question might not have to be decided if Captain Kirk could somehow get out of the trouble he was in, but…

What was it he said? _"It sounds to me as if you'll get the situation completely under control, Lieutenant."_

And cutting off all access to the _Enterprise_ was the only way she could wrest control from the hacker. That was the most important thing, and as Mr. Spock would say, it was also the only logical choice.

The needs of the many versus the few and all that.

"You have your orders, Mr. Scott," Uhura said, her voice still very soft. "Standby while I alert the crew…and then we're going dark."

* * *

"Main Computer successfully penetrated," Spock said, his voice slower, quieter, and weaker than Kirk had ever heard it since their recent, almost fatal adventure on Deneva. "Self-destruct…disabled."

Kirk held his breath. His ship's greatest defense against capture was gone. His heart pounded, his mind reeling with the enormity of this gamble. If this didn't work…

 _Come on, Uhura…come on…_

"And the weapons?" Thessa demanded.

Spock entered another command. "I have control of the phaser banks."

Thessa smiled. "Excellent. Then turn them towards Trilia."

"So," Kirk said quietly, "you intend to destroy the whole colony?"

She turned and gave him a contemptuous head-to-toe sweep of her cold eyes. "You disapprove, of course."

"Mass murder is hardly the answer, no matter how rebellious your colonists might be."

Thessa snorted. "What do you know about the burdens of power?"

"More than enough!" Kirk exploded; McCoy's hand, still clamped on his arm, kept him from taking a furious step forward. "I _know_ what it's like to lead, Thessa—how critical it is to temper one's power with mercy and compassion! Let us help you. Let _us_ mediate between Korions and Trilia and see if we can't help you reach some kind of agreement—"

"The connection just severed," Spock broke in. "I can no longer reach the _Enterprise_."

Thessa's resolve, wavering visibly at Kirk's last phrase, stiffened. Softening eyes went hard as she whirled back to the computer.

"What do you mean? Get it back, now."

"I cannot, so long as the computers on the _Enterprise_ are shut down."

Thessa turned on Kirk, her white face contorted. She clenched her lance. "Give him his communicator. Order your people to turn on the computers!"

Kirk took a cautious step back, discreetly pushing McCoy along with him. "Even if you gave it to me, I couldn't do anything. The communicators are connected to our computers. Without those…"

He shrugged, praying harder than he ever had in his life that no one would try to hail him and prove him the worst liar in the fleet. As it was, Thessa fell for it—although, judging by her face, it didn't alleviate her fury.

"Fine. We will wait until the computers come back on—"

"And if they don't?"

"They _have_ to!" she screamed. "Even I, who have never been on a starship, know that unless your people want to die they will try to revive the computers—and when they do, we will finish our task. But _you_ will not be able to play anymore games with me, Captain Kirk. You and your condescending mercy and compassion and mediation—the Trilians deserve none of that and neither do you!"

She gripped the lance with both slender white hands and thrust it at him. It didn't look as if she intended to implant into his head whatever nanoscale device she'd used on her own people and on his first officer, either. She aimed the sharp point squarely at the center of his chest.

And then several things happened all at once.

The guard closest to Spock let out a choking cry and crumpled like a rag doll. Thessa whirled just as Spock removed strong, sure fingers from the man's neck and shoulder. The second guard, the one with the communicators in his leather pouch, seized his own lance and charged Kirk and McCoy. The officers split, letting the man plunge right in between them. McCoy drew back a hypospray, concealed until now in his clenched hand; the injection hissed into the man's arm before Kirk realized what had happened.

"Jim, watch out!" McCoy barked.

Thessa swung her lance; Kirk ducked with inches to spare. She tried again with a furious cry, and this time he grabbed the heavy weapon a few inches below the point. It gave him the leverage he needed. He clamped his other hand on the lance, bracing himself so she couldn't wrest it away.

"Spock!" he shouted. "Kill the computer—kill it!"

"No!" Thessa shrieked. She tried to twist the lance out of his hands; Kirk held on tighter, half-watching as Spock slowly lowered himself to the bottom of the computer console. The Vulcan looked like he was battling the headache of the century. And no wonder. If Thessa was this desperate, she was probably fighting tooth and nail for control.

But if this computer really was a mother network…

" _Just kill the power!_ "

He gave the lance a sharp, quick twist of his own. The solid metal struck the side of Thessa's head; her fingers splayed out, she gave a startled, pained cry, and collapsed in a white and ice-blue heap. Kirk stepped back, breathing hard. McCoy dropped to one knee and scanned her.

"She's unconscious, but just barely. She'll be tryin' to get back on her feet in a few minutes."

"Then do us all a favor and give her the same treatment you gave that guard. Spock, are you all right?"

The Vulcan, prying open the computer's electrical panel, didn't glance up. "Considerably better since Her Supremacy lost control of her weapon—and her concentration."

Kirk expressed his relief in nothing more than a quick nod. Still gripping the lance, he darted over to the anesthetized guard. He pulled one of the communicators from the leather pouch and changed the frequency. The main communications center and intercom would be down… _come on, Uhura, tell me you've got a communicator on you while the intercom's down…_

"Kirk to _Enterprise_! Uhura, do you read me?"

The communicator crackled. "Reading you loud and clear, Captain! Are you all right?"

A solid click and the whir of a dying computer jerked Kirk's attention back to the console before he could answer. The blue and green lights flickered and went out. Spock slumped against the console and closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again with a look of profound intelligence that was completely and undeniably Vulcan.

"We're all right, Uhura—stand by." Kirk knelt beside his first officer, daring to lay a gentle hand on his shoulder. "How's your head?"

Spock brought a hand to his temple. "The pain is gone, Captain. It dissipated the second I cut power to the computer. I believe that if you inspect the point of that lance, you will find that it, too, has been deactivated."

It was true; the once-glowing tip had gone dark. "It was connected to the computer, too…"

Spock nodded, carefully getting to his feet. "I cannot confirm it until I examine it more closely, but I surmise that it inserted certain microchips into its victim's head, allowing the mother computer—and therefore Her Supremacy—almost total control over said victim. It would also explain the energy readings you discovered in the Korinosian citizens, Dr. McCoy."

"Not to mention _you_!" McCoy hissed, jumping up from the still-unconscious queen's side. "You nearly gave me a heart attack, Spock—you happy?"

Spock raised an eyebrow. "I assure you, such a possibility would bring me no personal satisfaction, Doctor."

Kirk stifled a weary laugh at McCoy's total inability to come up with a retort and returned to the communicator. "Kirk to _Enterprise_. Go ahead and tell Scotty to turn on all the computers, Uhura. The ship is safe."

* * *

With Thessa's control broken, it was only a matter of time before the war-weary Korinosians set to work investigating their own queen. The impatient, ambitious princess had already been plotting a coup against her grandfather when the _Wellington_ arrived. Now, facing her infuriated, free-thinking subjects, she had no choice but to admit that she had murdered her grandfather, used her mind-controlling computers on Captain Morrison and his senior officers, and then returned them to the _Wellington_ , confident they'd obey her orders to fire on Korinos' rebelling moon colony.

Morrison, however, resisted the mind control to the end with a Vulcan-like stubbornness. The Korinosian people weren't so lucky; thanks to a well-armed royal guard, resistance was pointless. But now that they were free again and Thessa's confused supporters routed, they were more than likely to give her the justice she deserved.

Captain Kirk wouldn't be there to see Thessa's fate, nor did he want to. He had more important matters to deal with…like explaining the _Wellington_ 's end to Starfleet, honoring the two young security officers who lost their lives in the line of duty, and getting over the nastiest headache he'd ever had.

When he finally returned to the bridge the next morning with a fully-recovered Spock just a step or two behind him, Uhura catapulted out of the captain's seat with a brilliant smile.

"Oh, Captain!—Mr. Spock—it's _good_ to see you!"

" 'Good?' " Scotty cried. " 'Good' doesn't even cover it. For Heaven's sake, Captain, will ye _please_ relieve the poor lass?"

Kirk smiled warmly at his communications officer. "With pleasure. Lieutenant, you are relieved."

Uhura let out a happy sigh. Kirk laughed, then raised his hand. "Half a second, before you go…"

She paused, questioningly. Kirk hit one of the buttons on the arm of his chair.

"Captain's Log, Stardate 4923.1. Note commendation, Lieutenant Uhura, for her unflinching obedience of Code Green and for her determination to keep the ship's computers safe from enemy interference while in temporary command of the _Enterprise_."

Uhura beamed. "Thank you, sir."

Kirk nodded, then gestured (gingerly) with his head towards communications. As she moved past him to her old station, he took his own place in his chair and leaned back with a contented sigh.

"Well, Spock," he said, regarding the snowy planet still featured on the viewing screen, "I'd say our mission here is complete, wouldn't you?"

Spock didn't answer. Kirk glanced up at him, surprised by the troubled expression on the Vulcan's face.

"What's bothering you, Spock?"

"The Prime Directive, Captain. Could it be argued that we violated it?"

Now it was Kirk's turn to frown. "By effectively destroying Queen Thessa's computer, you mean?"

"Precisely. It was, after all, similar to our actions on Eminiar 7—and _that_ incident did come under considerable scrutiny at Starfleet Headquarters."

"I guess it's up to me to remind you, then, that you two got off without a single reprimand precisely because you _didn't_ violate the Prime Directive!"

Kirk whirled in his seat, startled by McCoy's unexpected and exasperated voice. The doctor stalked out of the turbolift and leaned his elbow on the back of the captain's chair in that easy, familiar way allowed only to him.

" 'No starship shall interfere with the _normal_ development of an alien society'—and if these tyrannical computers and their despot controllers are ever considered 'normal' then I'll eat my hat," McCoy said with a smirk. "If anything, you put the Korinosians on the fast track back to their _old_ way of doin' things. Maybe they'll even be able to mend fences with Trilia, now that there's no royal ego gettin' in the way."

Kirk nodded in agreement, casting a faintly-playful smile up at Spock. "Besides…you didn't think I'd let a Korinosian queen steal away the best first officer in the fleet, did you?"

Spock straightened, eyes locked on the viewing screen. "If the safety of the _Enterprise_ , the

Prime Directive, your own future in Starfleet, or simple logic demanded it—"

"—I still wouldn't let her get away with it."

McCoy smirked at Spock's vague bewilderment. "I think what the captain's tryin' to say is that he'd have gone through hell and high water to make sure you got back to the ship in one piece yesterday. The least you could do is say 'thank you.' "

"Never mind, Spock," Kirk said, as the Vulcan opened his mouth to either comply or (and this was far more likely) protest. " 'Thank you's' are illogical, I know. But leaving you behind will never be logical, either, considering your importance and value to this crew _and_ your commanding officer, so…consider that, if you would."

Spock's frown deepened, but he nodded…as if he really would take the notion into consideration. Satisfied, Kirk turned his attention to the two officers seated in front of him at the helm.

"Take us out of orbit, Mr. Sulu," he said, giving the helmsman and young Chekov an enthusiastic grin. "Ahead warp factor one."


End file.
